A Thousand Separate Heavens
by starlight.moon.princess
Summary: "It was always nice to be reminded of the fact that there was one person at Hogwarts who saw him for the person he was, and not as just the gorgeous Veela boy." :: Louis, Lorcan, and confessing hidden feelings to best friends ::


**For Fanfiction, School of Imagination and Creativity (Creative Writing: Write a fic of about 3500 words without prompts)**

* * *

"Louis!" Lorcan called, running towards the blond boy. "She didn't mean it!"

The ten year old turned back to look at him, eyes rimmed red with unshed tears. "Of course she did," he sniffled, wiping at his eyes angrily. "And she's right, we all know that. The only reason that any of the kids from the village want to be my friend is because I have Veela blood! If it wasn't for that, they wouldn't look at me twice."

Lorcan caught up with him, panting. "Of course they would," he gasped out, "You're Louis! You're the most fun person I know!"

"Stop trying to make me feel better," Louis said angrily, making a move to run away from Lorcan once again.

Lorcan reached out an arm, catching him before he escaped. "I promise you," he said, looking at the other boy with a painful sincerity in his eyes, "That I will _always_ be your friend, Veela blood or not. You're Louis, not just a part-Veela boy, and all the other kids know that! Lucy's just jealous that they like you better than her," he tried to explain.

Louis sniffled, looking up at Lorcan with wide, disbelieving eyes. "Really?" he asked tentatively.

"I promise," Lorcan said, "Friends forever."

* * *

"Get _away_ from him," Lorcan hissed. "Can't you see he wants nothing to do with you?"

Louis looked at his best friend, eyes wide with gratitude from where he was trying to escape Grayson Wood's flirtations. "Lorcan!" he cried, slipping past the older boy to hurry to his side.

Wood scowled. "I see how it is now, Weasley," he rumbled. "You could have told me you were already dating someone."

And before Louis could say anything, he disappeared down the dark corridor, leaving the two boys to gape at his back.

"I hate them," Lorcan said after a few moments.

"Hmm?" Louis asked, turning to face Lorcan, "What do you mean?"

"We're _thirteen_, Lou!" he exclaimed. "And the people in this school treat as nothing more than a piece of meat! You're a _person_, and I hate that they just can't get over themselves and see that!"

"It's the Veela blood," Louis said soothingly. "It's not their fault that they're affected by it. If we hadn't grown up together, I'm sure you'd feel the effects of it too."

Lorcan looked at Louis, anger and horror warring on his face. "Never!" he finally growled out. "Louis, how can you even think – I'd _never_ treat you the way they do!"

Louis sighed. "I know," he finally said. "Just – go easy on them, okay? It's not their fault that I mess with their hormones."

"They should learn to control themselves better," Lorcan said stubbornly, folding him arms over his chest, his mouth a thin line of irritation. "All our hormones are messed up by puberty, but you don't go around seeing guys treating every hot girl like they treat you, do you? If they can control themselves around the girls, they should be able to control themselves around you."

Louis looked at his best friend for a moment, before grabbing him by the elbow. "Let it go," he murmured, secretly pleased at the other boy's vehement defence of him. "Now come on, we don't want to miss dinner."

Lorcan allowed himself to be led away reluctantly, scowl still fixed on his face, and Louis fought not to grin. As much as he pretended otherwise, the constant lewd looks and flirtatious comments did bother him, so Lorcan's defence of him was never something he would get tired of. It was always nice to be reminded of the fact that there was one person at Hogwarts who saw him for the person he was, and not as just the gorgeous Veela boy.

* * *

"Lorc?" Louis said, tentatively approaching his best friend.

Lorcan raised his head from the book he was studying deeply, a relieved smile on his face as he spotted Louis. "Lou!" he exclaimed as a greeting. "Brilliant, you're here. Now I have an excuse not to read this thing right now."

"What are you doing?" Louis asked, raising an eyebrow at the sight of his friend, who usually avoided school work as far possible, buried in what was perhaps one of the thickest books that could be found in the library.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Lorcan replied. "Winters wants twelve feet on humanoid creatures from me because of the Dung-swamp incident on Tuesday."

"I _told_ you not to do that," Louis murmured in a reproaching voice.

"Yes, yes, I know," Lorcan said, waving the other boy's words away. "You wanted to talk to me?"

At Lorcan's reminder, Louis started biting at his nails. "You'll hate me," he muttered.

"It's okay," Lorcan said, noticing his best friend's nervousness. "There's nothing you could say or do that would make me upset at you – at least, not for long."

Louis sighed, gathering up every piece of courage he possessed. "I-I-" he stuttered.

Lorcan leaned forward, reaching out to grab the other boy's hand. "It's okay," he murmured comfortingly. "You can tell me."

"I'm attracted to boys," Louis finally muttered, staring at his hands.

Lorcan didn't say anything, instead disentangling his hand from Louis' and reaching out to raise Louis' chin so that the blond boy was looking at him. "I like both boys and girls," he told him gently. "Why would it matter to me?"

Louis' face broke into a relieved grin, and he reached out to pull his best friend into a hug, thrilled at the knowledge that Lorcan wouldn't abandon him.

He didn't know why just yet, but telling Lorcan had been different and more nerve-wracking than telling anyone else, even his family. And the fact that he wasn't losing the other boy made him feel a kind of happiness he had never experienced before.

* * *

"Louis!" Lorcan called out.

Louis turned; his face breaking out into a spontaneous smile at the sight of his best friend. "Hey Lorc," he greeted. "What's got you so happy?"

"Lucy finally agreed to go out with me!" the sandy-haired boy exclaimed, practically vibrating with excitement. "Can you believe it? She agreed!"

Had it been anyone else, Louis would have made fun of the fact that a fifteen year old boy was almost bouncing with happiness at scoring a date. But it was Lorcan, the boy he'd known for all his, his best friend for the last six years. It was the boy he was-

"That's brilliant," he forced out, plastering a fake smile on his face. "I'm thrilled for you, Lorc, I really am."

Lorcan continued to babble on about Lucy, and Louis died just a little bit on the inside. He couldn't help but wonder when it would that he would lose his best friend; and LouisandLorcan would turn into LocanandLucy.

* * *

_Crack._

Louis scowled down at the remains of his quill at the rapidly widening ink stain on his Herbology paper. It did _not_ bother him that it had been six months since Lorcan and Lucy started dating, no matter what anyone said.

At the sound of footsteps in his room – the room he had specifically told his family not to come into – he snapped his head up, ready to bite the head off of whoever had broken his solitude.

All thoughts of anger fled, however, when he took in the bedraggled form of his best friend standing in front of him.

"What happened?" he asked in a panic, standing up and pushing Lorcan into a chair.

"It's over," Lorcan mumbled listlessly, staring into the fireplace. "Me and Lucy. We're done."

Louis stared at Lorcan in shock, completely clueless as to how to console him. The news of the break-up was a complete surprise to him – from what he had seen, they were one of the strongest couples at Hogwarts.

"What happened?" he questioned. "What did she say?"

"She said-" Lorcan hesitated. "It doesn't matter what she said. Just – I can't believe she broke up with me!" His voice had a lost quality to it, and Louis immediately abandoned the idea of questioning him further in favour of wrapping his arms around him and offering what little comfort he could.

And as much as he knew that it made him a horrible friend, he was unable to prevent the small shard of happiness that grew inside him at the realisation that Lorcan was single again.

* * *

"So, ummm…Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?" Eleanor asked, twirling a strand of hair on one finger.

Before Louis could figure out a way to gently let her down, let her that it wasn't anything she did but her gender that was leading him to reject her, Lorcan appeared by his side, glaring at Eleanor. "He's not interested," he nearly growled.

Eleanor let out a frightened squeak before disappearing down the corridor.

Louis turned to Lorcan, irritation and happiness warring within him. "You know, I recall something similar happening here a couple of years ago," he said, letting amusement win out. "Isn't this where you scared Grayson Wood away from me?"

"Well, if they'd just get a hint, then I wouldn't have to say anything," Lorcan grumbled, once again leading Louis towards the Great Hall.

* * *

"I don't know what's wrong with him!" Louis erupted, pacing across the length of Ravenclaw Tower. Lorcan was in detention with James, another one of their pranks having gone wrong, and Louis was taking the opportunity to let all of his buried feelings out. "Every time – _every time_ – someone even _looks_ like they're about to ask me out, and he's at my side, glaring them until they run away. It was okay when we were thirteen, but I'm seventeen and I've _never_ had a date because of him!"

Lucy smirked at him from where she was sitting with Molly, Lysander, Scorpius and Albus in front of the fire. After the initial shock of the break-up had faded, she and Lorcan had somehow found a way that allowed them to stay friends, and apart from Louis and Lysander, she was the person who knew him the best.

"Stop smirking!" Louis said, turning on Lucy. "This isn't a joke Luce! I'd like to have a healthy romantic relationship sometime in my life, and as long as Lorcan insists on scaring away everyone who's interested in me, that's never going to happen!"

Lucy sighed mentally, she didn't know why she had expected any better – her cousin had never been the most in touch with his feelings when it came to Lorcan Scamander. She exchanged a knowing look with Lysander before she got up from where she was sitting and approached Louis. Grasping him on his shoulders, she forced him to stop and look at her.

"Isn't it obvious?" she asked.

"Isn't _what_ obvious?"

Lysander finally let out an audible sigh, rising to join Lucy and Louis. "Look, I know my brother better than anyone. I know him just as well as you do, Louis, and in some cases, I know him better than he knows himself."

Louis nodded. Though he and Lysander had never been extremely close, the Scamander twins knew everything about each other, almost every moment of Lorcan's day being spent either with his brother or Louis, with most of the time left over allotted to Lucy.

"So trust me when I say this – he's jealous."

Louis stared. There was no way he had heard those words correctly. "W-Wait – _what_?" he stammered out, too surprised to say anything else.

"My brother's jealous of everyone else," Lysander said. "He's jealous of the chance that you may give anyone apart from him the time of day. My brother – my brother is in love with you. So yes, he's jealous of even the possibility that you might pick someone else."

Unable to say a word, Louis stared at the members of his family present in the Common Room, and the only thing he read on their faces was complete agreement with Lysander's words.

Unable to comprehend the weight of Lysander's words, he stumbled to the nearest sofa, sitting down heavily. "He thinks I'm interested in someone _else_?" he finally asked.

"Lorcan's never been the most observant of people," Lysander quipped, approaching Louis with a slight note of worry in his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he murmured, waving aside the question. "Wait – he's in love with _me_? Are you _sure_?" he asked, doubt creeping into his voice.

"I promise you, I know my brother," Lysander said gently. "He's in love with you."

"Lorcan – wow," Louis said in a daze, still sounding shocked.

"So," Lucy said cheerfully, breaking the haze of quiet that had settled over the room as Lysander broke the news to Louis. "What's our plan? What do we do now?"

* * *

"Are you _sure_ this is a good idea?" Louis asked nervously. By the looks on Lysander's face, he shared at least some of doubts that Louis was having.

"For the millionth time, Louis, _yes_, I'm sure," Lucy exclaimed, her voice a curious mixture of exasperated and excited. "I am certain this will work, so stop looking so unsure, the both of you!" she commanded.

Louis sighed. "It's just that I don't want to do this. It has nothing to with you, Ly," he said, throwing Lysander an apologetic look, "It's just that-"

"Now that you've finally realised you have a chance with Lorcan you don't want to mess it up by doing something idiotic, yes, yes, we know," Lucy said impatiently. "You've told us this a million times already, Lou, and I've told you just as many times that this _is_ going to work!"

Lysander threw Louis an encouraging smile as he let himself be directed into position by Lucy. "Don't worry," he muttered as he passed the blond boy. "You aren't going to lose Lorc over this, and we wouldn't even be suggesting it if it weren't the only possibility we could see."

Before Louis could start another round of protests, Lucy let out a loud squeal. "He's coming!" she whispered, frantically making sure that everything was in position before seemingly melding into the shadows of the corridor, disappearing from Louis' sight.

And, so quickly that even Louis, who was expecting it, didn't see it coming, Lysander's lips covered his own, just Lorcan turned the corner and the two boys entered his line of sight.

Though Louis was unable to see Lorcan's reaction, he could imagine the irritation and fury overtaking the other boy's face, similar to what Louis had felt at the sight of Lorcan and Lucy snogging. At that memory, he closed his eyes and finally allowed himself to sink into the kiss, letting Lorcan feel what he once had.

"What the _hell_ is going on here?" Lorcan's voice erupted behind them. "Get _away_ from him, Lysander!"

Instead of pulling away, Lysander pretended to deepen the kiss. After a few moments, without any warning, Louis felt Lysander being forcibly pulled away from him, and opening his eyes, saw that Lorcan had tossed him bodily to the other side of the corridor.

Through it all, the grin on Lysander's face never faded. "Now, now, Lorc," he said, a particularly mischievous smile on his face. Louis couldn't help but feel a sense of unquiet – he had seen that smile before, usually on Lorcan's face before he did something that got him thrown into detention for a month. "It should have been obvious, even to you, that he was enjoying that. No need to get all shirty with me – it's not like I was snogging your boyfriend or something."

Lorcan continued to stare stonily at his twin until Lysander turned and strolled away from them, hands in his pockets, grin still fixed firmly on his face, whistling a merry tune. "I'll be back," he called out behind him.

Lorcan could barely supress a growl of pure rage at his brother's words. Louis watched him, a faintly thrilled sensation developing in his stomach as he realised that his cousins and Lysander had been right. Lorcan _did_ have feelings for him.

As soon as he thought those words, Lorcan hurried over towards him. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly, "He didn't force himself on you or anything did he?"

Looking at the genuine worry on Lorcan's face, Louis couldn't help but feel horrible at what he was about to do. But he knew it was necessary if he ever expected their relationship to progress anywhere, so he forced himself to sound irritated. "What's your problem?" he demanded. "Lysander was right – we're not dating, but you never let me even try and get a date with anyone else. I was enjoying that kiss very much, you know," he continued, refusing to let Lorcan's hurt and confused face affect him. "You had no reason to suspect otherwise – you _know_ your brother would never force himself on me!"

"I- I-I-" Lorcan stuttered, completely caught off guard by the other boy's vehemence. Louis looked at him unforgivingly, and Lorcan wilted, collapsing into himself. "I don't want you to go out with anyone else," he muttered.

"What do you mean by anyone else?" Louis asked, immediately latching on to the bone of hope Lorcan had tossed him. "Who will you be fine with me dating? Tell me so I can ask them! I'm seventeen, Lorc. I think I deserve to know what having a boyfriend feels like!"

Lorcan fumbled under Louis' glare, but the blond refused to relent. Finally he sighed and whispered, "Please don't hate me," before walking towards him. He closed his eyes, worried what Louis' reaction would be, before leaning up to peck him gently on the lips.

Before Louis could even begin to enjoy the best kiss of his life, Lorcan pulled away, biting his lip in nervousness as he opened his eyes just the tiniest bit, dreading his best friend's reaction.

What he was not the horrified Louis he had imagined, but instead a Louis who was beaming from ear to ear, the widest smile he had ever seen gracing his features. "You moron," was the only thing he said before catching hold of the taller boy's collar and pulling him in for another kiss, this one long and deep. Even though it was obvious that Louis was inexperienced, the kiss still made Lorcan's toes curl in pleasure.

When the two of them finally parted, Louis was wearing an extremely pleased look on his face. "You could have just told me, you know," he said. "We wouldn't have had to go through all of this if you'd just opened your mouth years ago."

Lorcan shot him a playful glare. "I can say the same thing for you too!" he said. "So…What does this mean for us?"

Louis looked at him, eyebrow raised. "Do I _really_ need to do all the work in this relationship?" he asked archly.

The other boy laughed, before reaching out to hold Louis' hands in his own. "Louis Weasley," he asked formally, "Would you do me the honour of allowing me to be your boyfriend?"

"Of course I would," Louis whispered in reply, eyes shining as his most cherished fantasy became a reality.

Lorcan grinned at him, a crooked, happy grin that made his heart beat uncontrollably. "Come on," he said, words that were becoming a tradition for the two of them when associated with this corridor. "We'll be late for dinner."

The two of them walked down the corridor, hand in hand.

…

"So, whose kiss did you enjoy more, mine or Lysander's?"

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! As always, please don't forget to drop a review on your way out :)**


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